1900 Harry Johnsons Bartenders Manual (Mixellany)

— 85 —

sitate, to some extent, the existence of what is known as a bar-room; a peculiar home institution, typical of the American people, which other countries could not and do not copy, foreign nationalities being so thor- oughly dissimilar to the natives of the United States. Even in this great country where the conditions exist that have made the bar-room a popular institution, great changes have occurred of late years, and the bar-room has lost some of its characteristics, for the reason that the old-style American, who only cared to patronize it, has largely passed away, and the younger generation, trained to more general knowledge, has approved and adopted the customs of many other countries. The glory and the nature of the old-fash- ioned genuine American bar-room is, therefore, some- what disappearing, and present-day establishments are drifting toward the scope of the European style, which consists of having a so-called cafe, in some slight imita- tion of the foreign namesake, always, more or less, in connection with a restaurant or a place to eat. This meets my approval, for I don't believe it to be bene- ficial to any man to drink too much, without having the stomach sustained with the proper food. A man is liable to be "toned up" by drink, during business hours, even with an empty stomach, when his con- stitution seems to demand a stimulant; but if his sys- tem is inherently weak, while one or two glasses of liquor may be correct, it would be wiser to regulate his habits by combining eating with his drinking. As every one knows, a glass of wine or of malt liquor, a cocktail, or a punch, in moderation, goes well with the meal, tones up the system, strengthens the weak nerves, and gives vigor to the entire body. There is a wrong way of doing many things;—one can drink too much water, eat too much or too little, which all re- sults in breaking down one's health. There are excel- lent reasons for comparing a strictly drinking place